Ken Croswell

If you already get all the jokes on "Big Bang Theory," you don't need this book. If you've always secretly wondered what a neutron star is, or never understood the difference between a nova and a supernova, this is the book you want. A children's book is *always* what you want if you're a chronological grownup and you need to learn something. Unlike nonfiction for adults, children's books assume you don't know anything about the given subject, and they're really nice about it.

For the record, this isn't a picture book in the classic sense. It has some serious page-count, and a way-lot of text on every page.… (altro)

This most compelling aspect of this text are its beautiful photographs of outer space. It's difficult to find a quality text with images of other planets' moons, such as Triton, and this book delivers. My students loved the dramatic colors of the images. The text about each planet is accurate and relatively concise; difficult scientific language is kept to a minimum. At the same time, Croswell does not "talk down" to young learners. This book gave me a considerable amount of background knowledge necessary to teach a unit on the Solar System to first grade. I read chunks of the text to my first grade students; it was very dense and wordy at times, so I found myself paraphrasing. The data tables and facts in the back would be more interesting and helpful to older learners. I was disappointed about the absence of a glossary and source page, which is why this text did not receive 5 stars. Overall, this is a good book, and I would use it again.… (altro)

Readers may be disappointed with the quality and selection of sky images; they are not the arresting pictures that many may be familiar with. However, they are practical in supporting the books effort to aid in sky gazing. The information about what time and where in the sky to look for a constellation is helpful and clearly accessible. The text about each constellation can be a bit patronizing in tone at times. However, the astronomical information is presented in a clear, easy and interesting manner. The additional mythology behind the names of the constellation is also welcome. A glossary at the end would have been helpful.… (altro)

This is a great book that gives you enormous amount of information about all of the planets, including the 10th planet. It also has information on other outer space phenomenon; from Comets to the first asteroids discovered.

As a student this is my favorite outer space book that i have read. The information is much different from the other books. It gives you fun information and interesting facts.

As a teacher i think my students would love this book. i could use this book as an introduction to a study of the solar system.… (altro)